On the mountain
by Carrie1138
Summary: Just a short piece because I couldn't resist speculating on what happened right after the end of The Force Awakens. SPOILERS!


He stared at her for a long time. A very long time. She stared right back. She stood straight, bold, her arm extended with the saber held firm in her hand. A challenge. An offering. A hope.

His eyes, so blue and clear, stayed unwaveringly fixed on hers. The urge to blink, to look away, was strong, but she resisted it. Instead, she allowed the Force to envelop her, letting herself sink into the same ocean of calm she'd found during her fight with Ren. As her connection deepened, she realised the old Jedi was probing her mind, as Ren had, but in a completely different way. Where Ren had been brutal, he was gentle. Where Ren had been demanding, he was quietly questioning. She allowed him in, allowed him to find what he sought. She didn't try to probe back.

She didn't fear him. There was no reason to fear him, though even without trying she could sense the awesome power in him. She realised now she'd felt that power from the moment she'd first started on her long walk up the mountain. His presence suffused this place. It was his. It was _him._

She was intruding, she knew it. But she stood firm. Still. Calm.

When he finally took a step towards her, she flinched, but quickly controlled herself. A ghost of a smile played around his lips as he approached. He stopped, less than an arm's length away. Then he reached for her hand, but instead of taking the saber from her, he gently lowered her arm.

"Keep it," he said softly. "I have my own."

She looked down at the saber. As much as she'd resisted it at first, she was glad. Since she'd called it to her in the snowy forest, it had felt like it belonged with her. Having him confirm that felt good.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Rey," she said.

He nodded. "Rey. And why have you come here, Rey?"

She hesitated. She'd had a whole speech prepared, about how they had been chased halfway around the galaxy as they searched for him, how they needed his help, how his sister, General Organa, begged him to return and help the Resistance in its darkest hour. How his nephew needed to be stopped. But he already knew all that.

"Because you're Luke Skywalker," she said.

He smiled, sadly, shaking his head and stepping away from her towards the path down the mountain. "I used to be," he said.

She ran to catch up with him. "That's what Han said too. But you are! And he was, too. You're the last Jedi! We need you! We can't stop Kylo Ren without you."

He didn't look back. "You can't stop him with me either."

"We _will_ stop him. We'll defeat the First Order and restore the Republic and - "

He stopped, at that. Turned round and looked into her eyes again. He was frowning.

"Again?" he demanded. "We already restored the Republic once. It didn't matter. It didn't stop the First Order from rising. It didn't stop Ben from doing what he did. _I_ couldn't stop Ben from doing what he did."

"Maybe not then," she agreed. "But now? I felt his fear. He hasn't given himself completely to the dark. And he knows it."

Luke sighed. "Perhaps … but he's killed his father since then. You saw it. You know what he did, and why he did it."

"But I fought him after that! And it was still there." Rey all but stamped her foot in frustration. Why couldn't he see what she saw? "Please! You have to help us! For Leia!"

He stopped again. "Leia …" His voice was barely a whisper. "After what I've done to her, how can I ever face her again?"

"What?" Rey skipped down a couple of steps to look up into his face. "She doesn't blame you! When she saw the full map, she said your name … she … the only thing she wants right now is to see you again!"

"But she's not here."

"No. The Resistance - "

"The Resistance!" he scoffed. "The Republic. The Rebellion. There's always a bigger cause."

Rey lost her patience. As he tried to begin walking again, instead of getting out of his way, she stepped up to block him from moving.

"So you're saying you won't help us, then? Because if you are, just say it so I can be on my way. I don't have time to waste."

The Jedi master tilted his head, and gave her a stern look. Rey drew back, realising she might have gone too far this time. But then, suddenly, he smiled, and it was like the sun coming out.

"All right," he said, a warmth creeping into his tone that had not been there before. "Let's sit down and talk about this, shall we? Do you like tea?"

"I … don't know," she said.

"You'll like this tea," he called back as he started down the steps again, this time with the pace of a much younger man. "I grow it myself. Come on."

Rey followed Luke Skywalker down the mountain, smiling all the way.


End file.
